After a week of extremely hot weather, Cape Town's overall water consumption has spiked to a new high, while its dam levels have dropped. According to the City's Dam Report published on Monday, the city's reserves lost 0.9% of their combined storage. The dams now sit at 74.8% full. The Berg River Dam suffered the least, dropping just 0.1% from 99.3% to 99.2%. Its neighbour, the Wemmershoek Dam, decreased by 0.9%, and now holds 92.1% of its designed storage capacity. The Voëlvlei Dam is 96.2% full, dropping 0.5% over the previous week. And the Steenbras Lower and Upper dams decreased by 0.4% and 8.5%...
Mpumalanga is known as a beautiful, green province in South Africa that contains part of the world renowned Kruger National Park and Blyde River Canyon. But Greenpeace Africa claims the coal-powered area is hiding a far darker secret in thin air. According to the organisation, the South African province is the world's biggest hotspot for the pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2), outranking Germany, India, and China This is according to analysed data from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel 5P satellite, which highlights air pollution in the atmosphere, between June and August 2018. "The EDGAR global emissions inventory was overlaid with the satellite data to...
A new scam parading as an official voucher programme from SASSA is making the rounds, according to the agency. "SASSA would like to warn its beneficiary about the recent scam circulating. The below information is untrue and misleading," the South Africa Social Security Agency tweeted from its official account on Monday. SASSA would like to warn its beneficiary about the recent scam circulating. The below information is untrue and misleading pic.twitter.com/0c8nvlh8Pk — SASSA (@OfficialSASSA) 29 October 2018 According to the attached pamphlet which is adorned with UNICEF, Shoprite and Pick n Pay logos, the scam asks would-be victims to send identification documents, proof...
Malusi Gigaba's spokesperson Vuyo Mkhize has confirmed that the sex tape which sent social media into a frenzy on Sunday was "leaked by an opposition leader". Mkhize, who has been asked by Gigaba to handle queries regarding the now infamous video, published the statement to Twitter on Monday morning, just a few hours after Gigaba himself issued a national apology. "The @mgigaba video was leaked by an opposition leader who obtained it from an mp of his party from umzimkhulu who, in turn, obtained it from a guy who was previously implicated in the failed attempt to blackmail the minister... all...
South Africa's minister of home affairs Malusi Gigaba is at the centre of the internet's and the country's latest sex tape scandal, the politician confirmed on Sunday. In a thread, Gigaba acknowledged that a video (which quite literally portrays him with his pants down) doing the rounds online was genuine, and "publicly apologised" to the nation and his family. My wife and I have learned, with regret and sadness, that a video containing material of a sexual nature, meant for our eyes only, which was stolen when my communication got illegally intercepted/my phone got hacked, in 2016/17, is circulating among certain political figures... — Malusi Gigaba...
A lithograph of former South African president Nelson Mandela's hand has been sold at a charity auction in Hong Kong for R462 000. The piece, known as Impressions of Africa, features the handprint of the former leader flanked by ten other prints from South African children who were living with Aids. While 500 examples of the lithograph exist globally -- with some of those belonging to Prince Charles, Oprah and David Beckham -- this particular example belonged to the Mandela family before it was sold. More Mandela memorability will be auctioned at the Mandela 100 Centenary celebration in Johannesburg in December. Feature image:...
South African rapper Jabulani Tsambo, better know as Hip Hop Pantsula, and HHP, has died at the age of 38. The well-known musician was reportedly suffering from depression, and was on Wednesday found dead at his home in Johannesburg. The star’s death was confirmed by his wife on scene yesterday afternoon. Some of HHP most popular songs included "Music and Lights", "Jabba" and "Mptise". Friends and fans of the musician expressed their shock and sorrow at the news on Twitter. I'm GUTTED. I went to high school with Jabs. I listened to him sing in the choir. We went to rugby training. I...
Planet Earth usually doesn't like right angles or draw in straight lines. Mountains are rarely perfectly vertical or horizontal, flat areas of land has its nooks and crannies, and the idea of an iceberg is traditionally imagined as a weird mirrored pyramid. But this block of ice is proving this notion false. NASA's IceBridge project, which monitors the shelves across the Antarctic, last week tweeted an image of a rectangular iceberg during a flyby of the continent's northern Peninsula area. NASA's official account retweeted it on Wednesday. From yesterday's #IceBridge flight: A tabular iceberg can be seen on the right, floating among...
After months of rain, it seems that Cape Town has jumped from the depths of winter straight into the clay oven of summer. The city this week is pretty damn hot. Actually, that itself is probably a bit of an understatement. On Monday, the mercury in the Mother City topped the mid-30s. Tuesday was just as bad. Wednesday, I'm writing this sprawled across the floor, largely melted. The hot weather is also expected to last through the weekend, making many Capetonians question if it's worth braving the surface of Crematoria. "Can this Cape Town weather please protect me from itself?!" one user wrote. 6am...
Google has revealed upgrades for Google Play Movies & TV that will allow users in the US and Canada to watch content in 4K. According to the announcement, all movies you have already bought will now be streamed in 4K -- that is four times the resolution of Full HD -- while you can buy new titles in 4K at lower prices. “We think watching in 4K should be a no brainer, so we’re continuously...
You can now buy Stephen Hawking's iconic wheelchair if it just so happened to be on your Christmas shopping list. An auction will be held online for 22 of Hawking's most iconic works and items, including his doctoral thesis, scientific papers, and his script from The Simpsons. The items won't come cheap though, according to the AP exclusive, the doctoral thesis carries a price of more than US$130 000. One of his wheelchairs is valued at US$13 000. But it's not for personal gain, at least not according to the auctioneers. Proceeds will be given to two charities, the Stephen Hawking Foundation,...
As the MyCiTi Bus strike continues into its fourth day, the company has made an official statement on behalf of the City of Cape Town, announcing that it's seeking an interdict from the Western Cape High Court. “The City of Cape Town will, within the next few hours, apply for an urgent court interdict to protect MyCiTi personnel, passengers, and assets against those participating in an unprotected strike that has turned violent,” said the statement, which was posted on Facebook. According to the post, Wednesday’s protests saw two female bus drivers held hostage, buses stoned, and bus keys stolen to prevent...
In the early hours of this morning YouTube, including its TV and Music services, went down around the world, preventing users from accessing content. The platform was fast to acknowledge the problem and tweeted that they was working on the issue. An hour later, it had been resolved. We're back! Thanks for all of your patience. If you continue to experience issues, please let us know. https://t.co/NVU5GP7Sy6 — Team YouTube (@TeamYouTube) October 17, 2018 Meanwhile many users showed off their panic, amusement and relief with a healthy influx of memes on Twitter under the hashtag #YouTubeDOWN. I survived the great #YouTubeDOWN of 2018 pic.twitter.com/0pGKsXjYMS —...
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has died after a long batter with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was 65. Allen was a childhood friend of Bill Gates, and the two of them founded Microsoft back in 1975. Though Allen left Microsoft in 1983, his contributions to personal computer technology were revolutionary, and many consider him a great visionary for his investments and donations over the years. He founded multiple research companies for science, biology and technology, including Vulcan Inc. which confirmed Allen’s passing in an official statement. “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our founder Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and...
Update, Tuesday 10am: The "wildcat" MyCiti bus strike continues into its second day, affecting a vast swathe of Cape Town. There are however more lines currently operating today than on Monday, when strike action began. "The following services are currently operating on routes: T02, X02, D01, D02, D03, D04, 232, 233, 234, 236 and 237," Cape Town's MyCiti bus service tweeted early on Tuesday. Update: #MyCiTiAlert: The following services are currently operating on routes: T02, X02, D01, D02, D03, D04, 232, 233, 234, 236 and 237. Updates to follow — MYCITI bus (@MyCiTiBus) 16 October 2018 As of 6am on Tuesday, a slew of...
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